Mozambique Woman Caught With Drugs In Phuket

[hawker9000]

OK, wrong choice!

Drug mule never a good idea.

However given where the woman is from 50,000Bt could feed her family and take care of her sick mother...Do you know the reason? Do you really think she wanted to do this?????

Yes a life sentence behind bars, but we could than ask how many local bar girls and boys for that matter have HIV and AIDS and have done the same to support their family!!!

Is there anyone on Thai visa that can think outside a box???

And do YOU know how many people are affected by the violence of the drug trade worldwide? Mule these drugs and you're part of it (as you are if you're even a user as far as I'm concerned). You're part of something hideously brutal and murderous, even if you don't happen to be the one actually pulling the triggers on helpless victims. And should be treated as such.

[PoodMaiDai]

I wonder until when those mules will realized how stupid it is even for big money.

this is a pretty narrow minded post, you don't know her background and what else was used as an "incentive" to make her do this, usually mules don't have a choice. Go read a book or google it.

Sometimes they don't have a choice. Many times they do. I've known a few girls over the years in Thailand who had a choice and went for the easy money. One of them was caught in Malaysia a few years ago. Made the news. I assume she's dead now. It's very common now for the Thai girls to carry yaa for the Africans via make-up kits.

The sad thing is, every country knows these girls are the mules, and every country always fails to get to the source.

[joecos]

OK, wrong choice!

Drug mule never a good idea.

However given where the woman is from 50,000Bt could feed her family and take care of her sick mother...Do you know the reason? Do you really think she wanted to do this?????

Yes a life sentence behind bars, but we could than ask how many local bar girls and boys for that matter have HIV and AIDS and have done the same to support their family!!!

Is there anyone on Thai visa that can think outside a box???

In a roundabout way its because of mules like her that a lot of these young people have HIV & AIDS no sympathy whatsoever . Bang her up.

throw away the key .

[cdnski12]

Smart drug mules will always turn state evidence. She must been really clueless. Yaba is made by the truckload @ Thai owned Yaba factories on the Burmese Border. Previously these factories made heroin, which htey sold internationally on a truckload basis in BKK. Once the US moved it's Military Drug Operations to Afghanistan, the Thai Heroin Manufacturers had to shut down their Thai/Burmese Operations. They literally had warehouses full of valuless heroin in BKK. The entrprenurial Thai Factory Owners rapidly converted to making Meth Amphetamines (Yaba). That is why you see so many herky jerky Thai street people wandering around at night, in all the larger and some smaller, Thai cities. Yaba is cheaper than cigarettes. The usual historical parasites take their sales percentage at every transaction level. After 300 years of drug operations, they are very experienced at running such "Black" Operations.

Edited October 16, 2012 by cdnski12

[Andre0720]

Smart drug mules will always turn state evidence. She must been really clueless. Yaba is made by the truckload @ Thai owned Yaba factories on the Burmese Border. Previously these factories made heroin, which htey sold internationally on a truckload basis in BKK. Once the US moved it's Military Drug Operations to Afghanistan, the Thai Heroin Manufacturers had to shut down their Thai/Burmese Operations. They literally had warehouses full of valuless heroin in BKK. The entrprenurial Thai Factory Owners rapidly converted to making Meth Amphetamines (Yaba). That is why you see so many herky jerky Thai street people wandering around at night, in all the larger and some smaller, Thai cities. Yaba is cheaper than cigarettes. The usual historical parasites take their sales percentage at every transaction level. After 300 years of drug operations, they are very experienced at running such "Black" Operations.

Quite interesting and enlightening.

But then, if someone like you know so much about these operations, why would it be that the Thai government, claiming to want to eradicate drug use, cannot know as much, or if it does know, why would they not act and dismantle such illicit operations?

Is it all a big cover-up?

[carmine]

OK, wrong choice!

Drug mule never a good idea.

However given where the woman is from 50,000Bt could feed her family and take care of her sick mother...Do you know the reason? Do you really think she wanted to do this?????

Yes a life sentence behind bars, but we could than ask how many local bar girls and boys for that matter have HIV and AIDS and have done the same to support their family!!!

Is there anyone on Thai visa that can think outside a box???

Couldn't agree more. At the end of the day its another human tragedy

[belg]

so many airports, nobody found it, and nobody cares to check to whom they should have been delivered...

but good anyway, another african drug mule / dealer in jail

[LivinginKata]

2 offensive posts removed + the 2 replies

[Havco]

For all the bleeding hearts out there siding on this lady, please do me a favour and 'think outside the box' (thanks for the phrase Havco!) yourselves.

You all seem to have jumped to the conclusion that this woman is a "forced" drug mule, who in this case was in charge of drugs with a street value of 21 million baht. She has admitted being paid for the service, so it hasn't been planted on her; she was well aware of what she was doing.

The people who transport this amount of drugs are professional people, fact!! If you think the source would trust a 'forced' person with that amount of drugs, think again. They would be showing signs of extreme anxiety, prone to panic attacks, etc, etc, etc. All the outward signs that customs officials in every country are trained to spot.

Do not fall for the BS which ensues everytime one of them is caught!

My big problem with the story is why someone would import/smuggle meth into Thailand from such a distance, if indeed it did originate in Mozambique. The X-ray shot shown in the OP shows up like a pair of b0ll0cks at a ladyboys night-out.................

Extremely strange that she got as far as Phuket without being discovered.

Can you read between the lines? or are you saying you are smarter than everyone else? And when did I suggest a bleeding heart, another centered person I see!!!

Edited October 16, 2012 by Havco

[Havco]

mules DO NOT HAVE A CHOICE.

My God what a stupid statement.

Of coarse they have a choice.

DO IT OR NOT.

GREED my friend GREED.

Yes, they have choice. There is a beautiful highway from Maputo to the South African border built by South Africa which is crammed with buses taking migrant workers and their belongings back and forth. She looks young enough to easily be able to find work in South Africa.

The beautiful highway, let me think about 15,000 people a day hoping to get picked for the 450 seats and jobs, and lets not forget the children waving good bye laying rose petals along the way. I think its time to

[llopatka]

I've held more than a fair share of my thoughts regarding blatantly stupid comments on this forum, but some of the ones here are astounding -- especially given that they're coming from ex-pats who have resided for considerable time within a buddhist culture... Here are a couple of them:

bridge2bridge:

"My God another one-- will they never learn.

Appears not.

Now 37 will be in her sixties when she gets out, if she is lucky.

Stupid woman, no pity for some one who does this."

The average lifespan in Mozamique is 49.7 years. Not like the poor woman had much longer to live anyway -- she might as well have been a senior citizen...

Another one from bridge2bridge:

"You call B50,000( $us 1,600) BIG money.

My god i would not do that for B 1 million.

In for a long time.

STUPID woman.

NO pity at all."

PPP of Mozamique is $1100 (USD per capita). For those of you who don't know what that is, purchasing power parity conversion factor is the number of units of a country's currency required to buy the same amounts of goods and services in the domestic market as U.S. dollar would buy in the United States. Compare that to $36500 in the UK.

johnopolo:

"The only square that's applicable here is the prison cell. And what AIDS infected bar girls have to do with this drug mule is beyond me. What can we expect from you next: a bleeding-heart compassion call for the rapists out there ... or the paedophiles. Grief...."

Your comment is disgusting. The Mozambican HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is 16%, and 22% among women aged 20-34. Not surprisingly, the burden of HIV/AIDS falls mainly on women to take care of their sick family members. Correlation?

frankold:

"Finding a 9 to 5 job that pays the going rate doesn't provide a salary nowadays? Plenty of girls working in 7/11 in Bangkok or elsewhere have children and parents to care for. Most of the prostitution over here is done thru greed and laziness."

A) In Mozambique, nearly 90% of the economically active women work in agriculture. Of the other 430,000 women, about 160,000 received a wage. The share of women in wage employment in non-agricultural sector was nearly 20%. Coincidentaly, 90% of the population also lives on less than $2 a day -- less than one of the Changs you drank while writing your post. Do you speak Thai? Do you know the families? Do you *really* care? Pardonnez mon Francais, but <deleted> please.

Get off of your ivory towers! -- or your plastic barstools, whichever is more fitting. With all your privileges, like internet access (1% of Mozambique's population has internet access), maybe you should have considered doing a bit of research ala Google before opening your traps. As a compassionate citizen of Thailand, I implore the aforementioned to take their malignant cynicism back to wherever it is that they came from. We're better off.

Bon voyage!

[llopatka]

I wonder until when those mules will realized how stupid it is even for big money.

this is a pretty narrow minded post, you don't know her background and what else was used as an "incentive" to make her do this, usually mules don't have a choice. Go read a book or google it.

What a load of crap.

Mules DO NOT HAVE A CHOICE.

My God what a stupid statement.

Of coarse they have a choice.

DO IT OR NOT.

GREED my friend GREED.

Read my post before you type. Here's an excerpt concerning your baseless opinions, just for your benefit:

You call B50,000( $us 1,600) BIG money.

My god i would not do that for B 1 million.

In for a long time.

STUPID woman.

NO pity at all.

PPP of Mozamique is $1100 (USD per capita). For those of you who don't know what that is, purchasing power parity conversion factor is the number of units of a country's currency required to buy the same amounts of goods and services in the domestic market as U.S. dollar would buy in the United States. Compare that to $36500 in the UK. Therefore your 1 million baht is roughly equal to her 50k.

Here's another one for you to consider... johnopolo should listen up too... I mentioned in my last post that the Mozambican HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is 16%, and 22% among women aged 20-34. The average household size in Mozambique is 4.8 persons with a median of 5 (median is the most common number, in case you didn't know). Do the math... no, wait? You didn't get that far? So that's why you're spending your BIG 1 million baht on cheap beer and bargirls that you condescend on? If you had a family member with HIV/AIDS, you might know that anti-retrovirals cost $10,000-15,000 USD / year. That is big money -- enter the multiple trips that she made. What if it was someone in your family? In mine, we do whatever we have to to help. I'm glad I'm not a part of yours.

[Whidbeyboy]

I wonder until when those mules will realized how stupid it is even for big money.

Possibly starving and destitiute, they see a way to help thier family/children? Maybe she was naive and did not know drug were involved, or was told some other story. Who knows, maybe she is just as guilty.

But the sad fact is she will pay the price and the ring leaders walk free to find more desperate people, of which I feel thier is no shortage of.

Being stupid and being desperate to survive are not the same thing IMO. Until you know the full story who are we to judge?

[Whidbeyboy]

OK, wrong choice!

Drug mule never a good idea.

However given where the woman is from 50,000Bt could feed her family and take care of her sick mother...Do you know the reason? Do you really think she wanted to do this?????

Yes a life sentence behind bars, but we could than ask how many local bar girls and boys for that matter have HIV and AIDS and have done the same to support their family!!!

Is there anyone on Thai visa that can think outside a box???

finally someone writing something (besides me) that has some compassion for the plight of poor people. However, some people sell drugs just out of greed even if they are poor. If things like the exploitation of the poor were given a lot more notice, less poor people would be in prison, it's really the crime not the drugs.

Sanctimonious crap! You would change your tune real fast if someone cranked on meth had a gun on you- expecially if it was a tweaked-out family member. I am speaking from experience.

And do you think this woman is responsible for all the problems? You have no idea who she is or what she went through. She could have her family being threatened with death if she didn't comply. I know this from experince too. Hard asses like you are the first to cry out when it happens to you.

[Whidbeyboy]

Why didn't they offer her a break if she went through with the deal while they followed? Seems they would have made a bigger bust by getting who these drugs were sent to. Then use them to get the big fish. People will give up thier own Grandma when faced with life.

That's how we do it in the US anyway. The small fish are thrown back to hook the bigger ones.

[Bill999]

OK, wrong choice!

Drug mule never a good idea.

However given where the woman is from 50,000Bt could feed her family and take care of her sick mother...Do you know the reason? Do you really think she wanted to do this?????

Yes a life sentence behind bars, but we could than ask how many local bar girls and boys for that matter have HIV and AIDS and have done the same to support their family!!!

Is there anyone on Thai visa that can think outside a box???

The only square that's applicable here is the prison cell. And what AIDS infected bar girls have to do with this drug mule is beyond me. What can we expect from you next: a bleeding-heart compassion call for the rapists out there ... or the paedophiles. Grief....

Why the hell are you bringing rapists and paedophiles into this?

[Cheops]

Keeping in mind, she probably would rather had sold her body for sex as the punishment isn't quit as severe.

So much assume-ING ass u me, I seldom get involved with posting, I'm to busy shaking my head on most of these unthoughtful post.

They do make me feel so much better, about me, myself and I, realizing if we are 1 shy, of a six pack, there must be many that drank the six pack plus.

Some of you posters are so right, not knowing anything about her, the pressure that could have been put on her, the promise from her friend, that it was fail safe, her starving children, B 50,000 to her could be B 10 million to others.

To many people judge others, by their upbringing or the gifted life they have had, never starving, always had a bed, roof, food, baht, until one has walked the walk, one should never feel that they have the power or right to be judge and jury by only talkin the talk.

Some of you posters, I respect you understanding, compassion, not condemning a lost soul, trying to survive, yes packin drugs is wrong, get the packer and the receiver, give the one caught in the middle a little mercy...

Maybe you shouldn't get involved posting now as well as you are taking up for someone who was well aware of what she did:

bringing a huge quantity of drugs into Thailand, which helps to destroy many many lives! It doesn't matter for what reason she did it.

I really hope for you that your kids (if you have any) or yourself or family will never get addicted to drugs, but if they do you will change your mind for sure.

People who are aware what they are doing like she did, should be locked up for a long long time! If she did it for her children or her poor family she made the wrong choice!

[Cheops]

PPP of Mozamique is $1100 (USD per capita). For those of you who don't know what that is, purchasing power parity conversion factor is the number of units of a country's currency required to buy the same amounts of goods and services in the domestic market as U.S. dollar would buy in the United States. Compare that to $36500 in the UK. Therefore your 1 million baht is roughly equal to her 50k.

Here's another one for you to consider... johnopolo should listen up too... I mentioned in my last post that the Mozambican HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is 16%, and 22% among women aged 20-34. The average household size in Mozambique is 4.8 persons with a median of 5 (median is the most common number, in case you didn't know). Do the math... no, wait? You didn't get that far? So that's why you're spending your BIG 1 million baht on cheap beer and bargirls that you condescend on? If you had a family member with HIV/AIDS, you might know that anti-retrovirals cost $10,000-15,000 USD / year. That is big money -- enter the multiple trips that she made. What if it was someone in your family? In mine, we do whatever we have to to help. I'm glad I'm not a part of yours.

Nice to see your knowledge about Mozambique, but let's quote a part of your post: "What if it was someone in your family?"

Yes, WHAT IF it was someone in your family or one of your kids (if you have kids) that is addicted to drugs? WHAT IF?

I guess that will change your mind a bit about people who are aware of what they are doing and still bringing in loads of drugs to fxxk up people lives!

Yes, Mozambique is a very poor country, but it's not a reason to go help fxxk up other people lives too!

[easybullet3]

OK, wrong choice!

Drug mule never a good idea.

However given where the woman is from 50,000Bt could feed her family and take care of her sick mother...Do you know the reason? Do you really think she wanted to do this?????

Yes a life sentence behind bars, but we could than ask how many local bar girls and boys for that matter have HIV and AIDS and have done the same to support their family!!!

Is there anyone on Thai visa that can think outside a box???

finally someone writing something (besides me) that has some compassion for the plight of poor people. However, some people sell drugs just out of greed even if they are poor. If things like the exploitation of the poor were given a lot more notice, less poor people would be in prison, it's really the crime not the drugs.

i agree too!

i feel sorry for these poor people who think that they have nowhere to turn in life.

some fast money is always going to sound interesting to desperate people.

i personally think that 1 or 2 years MAXIMUM is enough for this crime. its long enough to make you not want to do it again.

I wonder where all those drugs will go now? !!

I saw a policeman buying drugs from a dealer around Soi 3/1 in Sukhumvit a few months ago.

its unfair that people in authority can do it IN PLAIN VIEW where I could see an obvious transaction.... but a desperate woman gets jailed for life.

there is not really an equal sharing of justice. (then again, most countries in the world are not free from this either)

[koto]

Keeping in mind, she probably would rather had sold her body for sex as the punishment isn't quit as severe.

So much assume-ING ass u me, I seldom get involved with posting, I'm to busy shaking my head on most of these unthoughtful post.

They do make me feel so much better, about me, myself and I, realizing if we are 1 shy, of a six pack, there must be many that drank the six pack plus.

Some of you posters are so right, not knowing anything about her, the pressure that could have been put on her, the promise from her friend, that it was fail safe, her starving children, B 50,000 to her could be B 10 million to others.

To many people judge others, by their upbringing or the gifted life they have had, never starving, always had a bed, roof, food, baht, until one has walked the walk, one should never feel that they have the power or right to be judge and jury by only talkin the talk.

Some of you posters, I respect you understanding, compassion, not condemning a lost soul, trying to survive, yes packin drugs is wrong, get the packer and the receiver, give the one caught in the middle a little mercy...

Maybe you shouldn't get involved posting now as well as you are taking up for someone who was well aware of what she did:

bringing a huge quantity of drugs into Thailand, which helps to destroy many many lives! It doesn't matter for what reason she did it.

I really hope for you that your kids (if you have any) or yourself or family will never get addicted to drugs, but if they do you will change your mind for sure.

People who are aware what they are doing like she did, should be locked up for a long long time! If she did it for her children or her poor family she made the wrong choice!

Aloha Cheops

Was addicted to drugs, not because of who brought it into the country, because I foolishly made a wrong choice, many years ago, there will always be choices out there, good and bad.

Alcohol being one of the worst drugs and biggest killer, job and home wrecker of all, adding all the drugs together.

Also being an alcoholic I can relate in that department also.

Yes the person that smuggled it in, is wrong and should be punished, all I'm saying is she is the least, of the main problem, the manufacture and dealers are.

The drug runners (many) are between a rock and a hard place and knowingly, will have to serve hard time if caught.

If they are first time offenders or first time caught, giving them the benefit of the doubt, maybe for every B10 thousand, they were paid, 1 year, so she gets 5 years, some education and job training, while she serves her time and another chance, also if she played a part in getting the manufacture, sender and or the receiver bagged, time deducted, to a lesser stay.

Now lets also get half smart and and start putting a stop to all these drunks, which is an addiction and smokers, another addiction, that are killing others through drunk driving, second hand, uncaring smoke.

I'm not talking about the sociable drinker, which there are some that can handle it or the smoker that has respect for others, just killing themselves in designated areas, disposing of their Toxic Butts properly.

I also was a smoker so I know the drill, addictions and how hard it was to quit all 3.

One must have a desire to live, quit being a waste of skin to self and others, start giving back, rather then taking.

Yes I believe in second chances, depending on the crime, kind-a-like these people that want all the stray dogs killed, because a few have bitten or bark to much, give me a brake and consider others at the same time depending on the crime.

To many people are way to fast in being the judge and jury on situations they know nothing or very little about, It's not just heads or tails, there are many sides to a story and always remember K I S S Keep It Simple Stupid.

Not saying your wrong and if she was a repeater, long, long time, first time, short time, rehabilitation and the understanding of life, if repeated.

Remember agreeing to disagree is healthy, also Yesterday is History, Tomorrow a Mystery, NOW Is the Only Time there Is,

make the most of it, realizing It's never to late to start giving back to Mother Earth and the Voiceless, Children, Wildlife, All Waterways and Our Soil, Get Off the Porch, Start Leaving Only Smiles, Examples and Footprints Behind...

[BigBillsDeli]

Just as Prohibition proved in America , laws against what people want to buy , only provides another way for

the Criminal Elements in our World to make big money off the poorest of people.

Usually , when I hear USA politicos condemn the Drug Trade and keeping

it illegal , not even allowing medicinal uses for pot , I truly believe that politician gets big donations

from those who benefit from its illegality and are raking in billions. The funding in the USA for the so-called War on Drugs ,I call it the biggest waste of $$$$$ their budget was over

6 Billion$ US .....that 's alot of money that could be spent better , to educate the population of the physical destruction

to their bodies caused by abuse of drugs , not just a casual recreational use of a drug.

When I worked for a Tobacco Company in the late 60\s and early 70's the government sold Marijuana tax stamps ,which big tobacco quickly bought ! They know the world governments will wake up one day and take away the big profits in illegal drugs, and they're redy to Roll! Pun intended !!!

Edited October 16, 2012 by BigBillsDeli

[uty6543]

Just as Prohibition proved in America , laws against what people want to buy , only provides another way for

the Criminal Elements in our World to make big money off the poorest of people.

so what do you suggest make drugs legal and all the criminal elements will go out and get an honest 9 - 5 job. I think we (the western world) should go to all the countries that grow drugs and destroy the crops before they can be harvested with or without the government of that country help.

[PattayaPhom]

OK, wrong choice!

Drug mule never a good idea.

However given where the woman is from 50,000Bt could feed her family and take care of her sick mother...Do you know the reason? Do you really think she wanted to do this?????

Yes a life sentence behind bars, but we could than ask how many local bar girls and boys for that matter have HIV and AIDS and have done the same to support their family!!!

Is there anyone on Thai visa that can think outside a box???

finally someone writing something (besides me) that has some compassion for the plight of poor people. However, some people sell drugs just out of greed even if they are poor. If things like the exploitation of the poor were given a lot more notice, less poor people would be in prison, it's really the crime not the drugs.

Using poverty as an excuse for crime isnt justified otherwise muggers, bank robbers etc etc you could say the same about. Poverty has and always will exist regardless of the amount of help or aid that is given but inflicting untold misery on individuals through trafficking or selling drugs isnt the answer.

[sirchai]

It was her first time to visit the resort island.

It was the first time she tried to smuggle drugs into the resort island.

Police are tracking down her contact by tracing calls on her mobile phone, which records show she used many times to complete her work.

So was it the first time, or not? Of course they didn't go any deeper........

[sirchai]

Just as Prohibition proved in America , laws against what people want to buy , only provides another way for

the Criminal Elements in our World to make big money off the poorest of people.

so what do you suggest make drugs legal and all the criminal elements will go out and get an honest 9 - 5 job. I think we (the western world) should go to all the countries that grow drugs and destroy the crops before they can be harvested with or without the government of that country help.

I suggest to give all human beings a brain and start thinking first.----

[uty6543]

Just as Prohibition proved in America , laws against what people want to buy , only provides another way for

the Criminal Elements in our World to make big money off the poorest of people.

so what do you suggest make drugs legal and all the criminal elements will go out and get an honest 9 - 5 job. I think we (the western world) should go to all the countries that grow drugs and destroy the crops before they can be harvested with or without the government of that country help.

I suggest to give all human beings a brain and start thinking first.----

so you have no idea that might help to change things from the way they are.

[sirchai]

Just as Prohibition proved in America , laws against what people want to buy , only provides another way for

the Criminal Elements in our World to make big money off the poorest of people.

so what do you suggest make drugs legal and all the criminal elements will go out and get an honest 9 - 5 job. I think we (the western world) should go to all the countries that grow drugs and destroy the crops before they can be harvested with or without the government of that country help.

I suggest to give all human beings a brain and start thinking first.----

so you have no idea that might help to change things from the way they are.

Let's change the whole world! Let's start today!---

[uty6543]

very good ideas sircha. 2870 posts and I wonder if they were all as wonderfully thought out as the last 2

[sirchai]

very good ideas sircha. 2870 posts and I wonder if they were all as wonderfully thought out as the last 2

Let's start with the traffic signs first.......

[technologybytes]

The truth is that all the time there is a demand for drugs, there will be a supply. Making it illegal and having long sentences seems to do very little to stop the flow of drugs into the country nor limit the amount of drugs available on the street, this is a universal fact and not in any way limited to Thailand.

The drug dealers at the higher levels rarely get caught, and if they are wealthy and powerfull enough they can often avoid prosecution. It does seem that the authorities put a lot of emphasis on claiming that catching a courier is a success, in reality its meaningless. It's even quite possible that she was set up to be caught in order to keep the customs busy so another courier could walk thorugh behind her with an even bigger and better hidden stash.

When you make comments like "let her rot in jail" and "Its good that these drugs will never make their way to the street", it shows a misunderstanding of how these things work and how insignificant a pawn in the bigger picture these couriers are.

Of course, if they wanted to the authorities could have let the courier go on her way and follow her (in person or via an electronic tracker in her luggage) and they could have caught the dealer who was due to handle the drugs in Thailand.. let's not be naive here, customs in Thailand are not stupid and they know how to set up a sting operation, but for some reason they were happy to grab the courier and bask in the glory of a job well done.

In the meantime a young woman gets to spend years in a Thai prison, and the only thing achieved is a courier out of action with thousands or even millions more potentially ready to take her place. It will make no difference, it never does.

In some countries around the world it is recognised that couriers (or mules if you prefer that term) are NOT the same as drug dealers. I don't know the circumstances of this young woman's background or her reasons for doing what she did, but it deeply concerns me that so many people have so little compassion for others.